Surprise
by StarWars-Freak
Summary: The night before Larry leaves for Houston, Alan invites him over to the Eppes' house for a surprise party, but not everyone is having a good time. CharlieAmita. Implied LarryMegan. Oneshot


A/N: Wrote this and another story after my school was evacuated today for a bomb threat and there was nothing to do except to sit on the front lawn and theorize on what was going on. There weren't even reporters to talk to this time because they blocked off the street. My friend's convinced that it was actually to make sure that when the school blew up, only the students and teachers would be hurt and not the other innocent people of Matthews. I'm not so convinced. My other friend thinks it was a ploy by our AP US History teacher to show us a physical representation of manifest destiny as we were pushed farther back on the lawn, away from the school (because that extra ten feet and graffiti rock are _really_ gonna help protect us). I don't know about that either, though it was fun to write a mock lecture for it.

But I digress. The other story, I might post, but it's a multi-chapter. Three guesses on what it's about.

SUMMARY: The night before Larry leaves for Houston, Alan invites him to the Eppes' house for a surprise party, but not everyone's having a good time. Implied Larry/Megan. Charlie/Amita. Oneshot.

Surprise

"Larry, come on in," Alan said once he opened the front door that night.

"Ala, I was a bit curious as to why you wanted me to come over tonight of all nights. You weren't very clear on the phone." Larry stepped into the foyer and looked around at the uncharacteristically dark house.

"Oh, well, I wanted you to see something. It's right in here." He led Larry into the living room and flipped on the light switch.

"Surprise!" a large group of people shouted immediately.

"What is all this?"

"You didn't think we'd send you off without a going away party, did you?" Charlie asked, stepping forward and slapping his best friend on the back.

"Well, actually – " he was cut off by Amita's hug.

"We're so happy for you, Larry."

One after the other, everyone gave him their congratulations and well wishes.

"Dinner's on the table," Alan announced.

"Why's everything white?" Colby asked the moment they entered the dining room.

"You didn't have to go to all that trouble for me, Alan."

"Charlie insisted. This is your last good meal for a while; he wanted you to have it monochromatic for you."

"Why monochromatic?" David asked slowly.

"Larry likes all his food to be one color," Megan explained fondly as she passed David and Colby to sit with Larry.

"What _does_ she see in him?" Colby whispered to David.

"Dude, I don't know," he whispered back.

As soon as everyone was seated, Charlie stood and raised his glass. "To Larry Fleinhart, my best friend and mentor. Congradulations and good luck."

"Here, here," Don said, and the rest chorused with "To Larry!" and clinked their glasses together.

"I must admit that I am rather shocked that you all did this for me."

"Ah come one, Larry, you know we're all going to miss you," Don said, though he was slightly confused by Charlie's sudden turn around himself.

"Well, thank you, Don."

"So, Larry," Colby began, "What are you going to be doing in space anyway?"

The rest of the dinner continued as everyone tried to get Larry to tell more about the mission. Though he continuously denied knowing much, he was able to entertain them through dinner and into dessert in the living room. So much that Charlie was able to slip out almost completely undetected.

Amita found him in the garage five minutes later. She recognized his work as P v. NP immediately.

"There's a party going on you know." He didn't respond. "A going a way party for your best friend." The scratching of his chalk did not falter. "One that you organized."

Amita quickly snatched the chalk from his hand. He didn't turn. She tried to turn him around to face her, but he remained steadfast.

"Charlie, you're being – " _Difficult_ was on her lips when she finally wretched him around. And she immediately regretted it. He refused to meet her eyes, obviously ashamed.

She gently reached up and wiped the tears away. She'd never seen him cry before. He'd been upset a few nights before when he finally admitted to himself that Larry was leaving, but he had held back his tears. She tenderly kissed him.

"What am I going to do without him to give me advice?" he asked as she rested her head on his chest.

"You still have me," she answered quietly, not sure where she stood in the equation.

"And when I screw up with you, who's going to give me advice on how to get you back?"

"Don…?" She glanced up to see his incredulous look and smiled. "You're not going to screw up. It's six months, Charlie, not a lifetime."

"He was the only teacher who treated me the same as his other students."

"Then why are you in here?" She pulled away to look into his eyes. After a short kiss, he smiled and nodded.

They linked hands and walked back to the house.


End file.
